GUEST OPINION: We owe it to ourselves to protect and use our water wisely

Water rates for Oakland County have gone up astronomically over the last three decades and there is no end in sight. Detroit's water infrastructure is very old and with its economic woes, there is little hope of relief in sight.

Combine that with Detroit's declining population and any hope for lower water rates is decades away.

I believe we can best serve ourselves, Detroit and the entire region by taking the burden of water delivery off their backs. We are the model for all Michigan counties and we have the horses to get the job done. Imagine the jobs and the shot to our regional economy that a water pipeline project would bring.

Another major water issue the county and region faces is combined storm-sanitary sewer overflow during heavy rain. We have built massive interceptors to gather the overflow, treat it and release it into the drains, lakes and streams. These engineering monoliths cost the county hundreds of millions of dollars to construct and maintain and are marginally effective at best. They don't really address the root of the problem. Our new Water Resource Commissioner Jim Nash would do well to create a new unit that is purely for research by working in conjunction with Michigan Universities and private engineering firms to find root solutions to overflow issues.

Advertisement

We must seek materials other than concrete or asphalt that are permeable and allow rain to enter the ground at or near the point of impact instead of the concrete rivers we have created with our roads and parking lots. I envision high-tech water pipes that have walls containing electronic circuitry connected to thousands of miniature simple turbines, generating electricity sent to local power substations.

We must develop a new generation of septic tanks with small flocculating chambers and filtering technology to collect and eliminate chemicals from entering into our ground water.

All of these things will come to pass in some form or another. Our future demands it.

The question is will they be developed in Germany or India or can Oakland County take the lead in developing some of these new water technologies? Just down the road in Dearborn were the first mile of concrete road and the first auto assembly line. These things have defined our region.

Other than automobiles, the thing that most defines our region is water. We are the Great Lakes State.

We are perfectly positioned to take on the challenges of water issues for the next 100 years.

Commissioner Nash needs to streamline operations at the WRC so that time is spent on meeting the challenges of the next generation and not lost in a bureaucratic quagmire. In the next 100 years, water will become the new oil and our region is sitting on 21 percent of the world's fresh water. We as a region owe it to ourselves and to future generations to protect it and use it wisely.

Mark Danowski is a resident of Rose Township and works for the Michigan Department of Human Services.